Chief Economic Advisor V Anantha Nageswaran launched FLAME University’s Centre for Knowledge Alternatives’ District Project and its digital portal on Saturday. Starting with Maharashtra, the project will expand to other states while aiming to map, document and create hub of local data and cultures across India’s districts. The project will offer district-level statistics and cultural insights by blending data with narratives to provide a deeper, more human understanding of India’s local realities.
Policy Mandate
“The Districts Project represents a significant step toward enhancing India’s development discourse through localised, grassroots understanding. By combining cultural narratives with rigorous economic and social data, this initiative enables policymakers, researchers, and citizens to view India not just as an abstraction but as a collection of lived experiences shaped at the district level. Reliable, detailed, and participatory data like this can meaningfully inform policies and resource allocation, ultimately enabling more inclusive and context-aware governance,” Nageswaran said.
The CEA emphasised the importance of localised data, community knowledge, and participatory research in shaping the nation’s economic and policy landscape. He underscored how initiatives like the Districts Project could facilitate a more nuanced understanding of India’s development trajectory by integrating the richness of its cultural fabric with measurable economic and social indicators.
Bridging Data and Cultural Narratives
The project serves as an accessible and participatory encyclopedia of India’s districts, starting with Maharashtra. Each district’s page on the portal features history, cuisine, local art forms, markets, languages, heritage, and developmental data, including education, health, agriculture, industries, labour, and economy. The repository will continue to incorporate new information through user contributions, correcting inaccuracies and integrating fresh insights from both researchers and citizens to ensure that the project remains a dynamic, participatory archive of India’s districts.
Vallabh Bhanshali, a founding member of the governing body at FLAME University and chairman of the ENAM Group, stated that this invaluable knowledge will empower policymakers to formulate more effective policies across governance, security, heritage preservation, and social harmony.
Led by Yugank Goyal, faculty of Public Policy and director of the Centre for Knowledge Alternatives at FLAME University, Districts Project seeks to deepen the understanding of India’s districts, their cultures, histories, economies, and everyday life. “It consists of empirical, field-based inquiries that bridge the gap between academic research and community knowledge,” Goyal said. “The Districts Project will document India at the district level.” The team has been working on consolidating district-level statistics and cultural information for all 36 districts of Maharashtra into one extensive web portal.
Praveen Pardeshi, chief economic advisor to the Maharashtra Chief Minister and CEO of MITRA, noted that the project has the potential to enhance evidence-based decision making for Maharashtra and beyond. “We often discuss India’s progress, but true progress begins when we understand the aspirations and challenges of our districts — where development genuinely unfolds. The Districts Project is a transformative effort that integrates on-ground voices with authentic data, allowing us to plan with precision and empathy. For state-level development strategies, this type of transparent and dynamic public repository is invaluable,” said Pardeshi.